


At That Moment

by Skiesfyre



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Forever (TV), Torchwood
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Suicide, Temporary Character Deaths, World War II, brief description of battle wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 19:26:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3261590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skiesfyre/pseuds/Skiesfyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They met in World War II, because of course they would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At That Moment

**Author's Note:**

> I'm blaming the focus on the WWII flashbacks in the early Forever eps.

            The Nazi push had been brutal, and Henry had been on his feet for hours, exhaustion reducing the men under his hands to their injuries. Amputations, gas inhalation, bullets, shrapnel – the steady stream of torn up young men made him sick, but he grit his teeth and got on with it.

            What else could he do?

            Finally the rush began to slow, and he let a nurse shove him away toward a sink. He scrubbed his hands, thoughts already turning to Abigail and Abraham.

            A burst of shouting from outside and then four soldiers hauled in another man on a makeshift gurney. Henry could hear the gurgling even before he shut off the water, but he bolted back over anyway.

            “Told you boys,” gasped out the wounded man – a captain, _their_ captain by the looks on their faces. “Don’t worry.”

            “Get them out of here,” Henry ordered the nurse, and she shoved them out as he pulled open the captain’s coat.

            His chest and stomach were torn to shreds. He should have been dead already.

            “Be fine,” the captain said. “Go help someone else.”

            “I’m helping you,” he said tersely. “Be still.”

            He swiped feebly at Henry’s hands as he pressed gauze to the wounds. “Don’t,” he slurred.

            “Let me work!”

            “Go—should go. _Go_.”

            “Just hold on!” Henry snapped, but the captain’s hands went slack, and his last breath wheezed out.

            Henry gripped the edge of the table, and bowed his head.

            After a moment, he took a breath and stood straight again. He had known it was a lost cause the second he’d seen the wounds, but that the man had still been alive, had still tried to encourage his troops – sometimes that kind of fight was all it took.

            He reached for a fresh sheet to cover him, shaking it out over the body. He paused before pulling it over the chest, glancing at the wounds – yes, extremely extensive, the poor man hadn’t had a hope even with those signs of healing—

            Henry froze.

            Signs of _healing?!_

            He drew back the sheet again, and felt his breath leave him as he looked down at what had been a nearly completely destroyed chest cavity and was now…just a chest. A whole, nearly undamaged chest.

            The man gasped, arms and legs flailing a little as his eyes flew open again.

            He lay still on the table for a moment, panting as he glanced around the medical tent as much as he could without moving his head. He relaxed somewhat after a moment, and started to sit up—

            And froze when he saw Henry.

            “I can explain,” he said after a moment.

            “You don’t have to,” Henry managed.

            The man flashed a grin, but there was panic at the back of his eyes. “Used to be in the circus,” he said.

            “No, really,” Henry replied. “You don’t have to explain.”

            “You look like you’re about to faint, so I think I do.” He paused. “Or I can just leave and we can pretend this never happened.”

            “You’re not leaving,” Henry said sharply, but apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because the captain’s eyes went hard even as his grin got lazy. “That’s not what I meant—you don’t understand.”

            “Sure I do,” he said, his voice becoming a drawl. “You just saw a man come back to life.”

            “That’s really not—“ Henry paused. “Okay, that _is_ my problem, except it’s _not_ a problem—no, there is an easier—well, not easier, but _quicker_ —“

            “You’re getting hysterical, Doc,” the man said. “Maybe you ought to lie down.”

            Henry glared. “Come with me,” he snapped, grabbing for his coat.

            The captain didn’t budge until Henry grabbed his arm too, and then, with a yelp of surprise, he followed along. Henry was aware of the man trying to talk him down, but he ignored it as he picked his way along the path.

            “Stand there,” Henry ordered the captain when they reached the shore. “Stand right there, and don’t move, and keep this—“ he shoved his coat into the captain’s arms “—dry.”

            “Look, Doc, I need you to calm dow— _holy shit what are you doing?!_ ”

            The captain reached for him, but Henry was already collapsing – scalpels to the aorta were very quick. “Watch the water,” he managed, and then everything went black.

            He didn’t know how long it was before he was thrashing to the surface, gasping for a breath the frigid water tried to steal. He treaded water for a moment, trying to figure out which way to land; thankfully it looked like he hadn’t been sent far from shore.

            The captain was still standing where Henry had left him, eyes wide and jaw loose as Henry walked out of the water.

            “My coat, please,” Henry said when he reached the captain. The other man made a sound but held it out at once. Once he’d tugged the coat into place, Henry forced himself to straighten up and offer his hand. “I am Doctor Henry Morgan,” he said. “And I can’t die.”

            The captain gaped for another second before he seemed to rouse himself. “Captain Jack Harkness,” he said, taking Henry’s hand. “And neither can I.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the C.S. Lewis quote "Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another, 'What? You too? I thought I was the only one!'"
> 
> I'm really bad at titles.


End file.
